Carrick Cairnmuir Terraces EBM Central Otago Organic Chardonnay 2022 $60 
I mean you could go through your life happily knowing the Carrick EBM Chardonnay is so named for its ‘Extended Barrel Maturation’. However, I feel that name kind of doesn’t really give enough oomph to its actual fabulousness. So from here on in, I’m renaming the EBM to “Excellently Beautiful and Magical”. So you’ll be in no doubt as to my feelings about a wine which is simply not made unless the Carrick team feel the fruit is perfect. Crafted from a single clone (Mendoza) from a single, Bannockburn-based vineyard and matured for 18 months in 25% new French oak barrels, just 100 cases were made from a carefully selected blend of those barrels, making it a tad rare. Caramelised, spicy, softly smoky and saturated with stonefruit complexity, there’s a long, richly creamy mouthfeel and a marathon-like finish.
